Timeline of FPN

FPN is a German free-to-air regional television channel based in Berlin and is owned and operated by Sender Freies Berlin (SFB). It is one of the eight regional channels of the national ARD organisation, which are in turn operated by separate broadcasting institutions.

FPN launched on 22 March 1935 as Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow, a name that was shortened to FPN in 1954.

Timeline

 * 1935: FPN launches, becoming the first television station in the world catering to the masses.
 * 194?-45: Due to the Second World War, the station’s transmitter becomes slightly damaged after surviving many bombings and air raids.
 * Stays still mostly intact, however.
 * 1945: Germany surrenders, but FPN still broadcasts live, even after the Soviets raid the studio.
 * Later, the British take control of FPN and begin using it as a tool for educating the public.
 * The channel adopts BBC-style practices, still in use as of 2021.
 * Later that year, FPN becomes apart of NWDR, who were responsible for public broadcasting at the time.
 * 1946-47: The British consider replacing FPN.
 * Many were against this, called it unnecessary and then the proposal is scrapped.
 * 1948: Germans gain control of both FPN and NWDR.
 * 1950: The channel’s test phase begins after it starts airing entertainment programmes.
 * Airs for two hours each night.
 * First time FPN broadcasts non-news programmes since World War II.
 * 1952: FPN resumes regular transmissions after years of infrequent broadcasts.
 * 1953: East German uprising causes a law that separated West Berlin from the NWDR.
 * SFB is formed as a result.
 * 1954: SFB gains control of FPN.
 * FPN joins the ARD.
 * The station starts going by its shortened name, which of course is FPN.
 * First use of “SFB1” nickname, which is used regularly until the early-1990s.
 * 1958; FPN starts producing content for ARD.
 * 1959: The channel starts airing Das Sandmännchen.
 * Before the show debuts, nine days earlier East Germany airs their own version of the show.
 * 1961: FPN becomes branded on-air as “FPN: Der SFB-Fernsehstation”.
 * 1962: The channel starts producing more educational content.
 * Gains reputation as “high-brow”.
 * 1970: FPN moves from the Deutschlandhaus to a nearby, newly-built building which still serves as its current headquarters.
 * 1990: FPN starts producing Unser Sandmännchen, which originated in former East Germany.
 * 1995: FPN airs “Die Dunkle Seite des Fernsehens” (“The Dark Side of Television”), which explores the channel’s dark history and showcases rediscovered footage of the channel during the first decade of its existence.
 * The documentary was praised for how well it handled dark subject matter.
 * Its debut broadcast being one of the channel’s most viewed.
 * 2003: FPN becomes one of the first channels in Germany to complete its switchover from analogue to digital.
 * The channel rebranded to its current logo sometime after its digital transition.